Rib rail for cotton gins



May 24,1927. 18

I. LEECH ET AL RIB RAIL FOR COTTON ems Filed Jan. 17. 1927 Patented May 24, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Isaac 'LEECI-I AND THOMAS HERBERT BRADLEY, OF

OLDI-IAM, ENGLAND, 'assrenons,

BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, CEO-THE MURRAY GGMIEANY, 0F DALLAS, TEXAS, A CORE PORATIOZN' or TEXAS.

RIB RAIL FOR oo'r'ron ems.

Application filed January 17, 1927. Serial No. 161,542.

Our invention is a novel grate fall for cottongins in which are employed, for the cross-members which sustain and position the two ends of the several ribs, slotted bars along the slot of which may be adjusted and clamped the several ribs making up the grate fall.

In the drawings": I v I a j l Figure 1 is a cross-sectional View of a gin,

' embodying our improvement ,1

Figure 2 is an elevation of a part of the saw shaft and saws, with' ribs mounted on the cross-rails; j v

Figure 3 is a detail of part of a cross-rail, showing the nuts within the slot;

Figure dis an end View of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a detail on an enlarged scale of the cross-rail, slot and bolt assembly.

\Ve have shown our invention as applied to a. well known type of gin, such as is shown in United States Patent to Henry, No. 1,210,- 646, dated January 2, 1917. It will be understood of course that the invention is applicable to any gin in which ginning'ribs and saws are employed, whether employing one set of ribs as in Patent 1,210,646 or two sets of ribs as in the so-called Huller gins and whether employed upon seed cotton or upon linters.

As the invention is entirely concerned with the ginningribs and their support and adjustment, it will be unnecessary herein to do more thanindicate, in the most general way, the main elements of the gin shown in Figure 1. In the drawings, 1 is the frame of the gin, 2 is thesaw shaft, 3 the saws. Above the saws is the roll-box 4 through which the cotton is introduced into the machine. The air blast 5 discharges air under compression, received from the air duct 6, against the teeth of the rotating saws 3 and frees the cotton, blowing it into the cotton duct 7 and so out of the gin.

The gin ribs, A, one of which lies along side each saw and between adjacent saws, are of any well known shape and construction and are supported at their opposite ends by cross rails, B. Rails B are slotted longitudinally from one end to the other, upon the face which is to receive the ends of the several ribs A. This slot is preferably of T shape in cross-section, as shown in the drawings. The shank 25 being perpendicular .-i .l -i-m in i V. V was, .77. 0.... in. ,7

.to the face of the rail B and the cross member 2 being parallel to the face of the rail B, the inner end of slot topening into slott. The ribs A have at either end a flat seat, a, having an aperture or apertures, a, preferablycountersunk, to receive bolts a, hav- 111g screw-slotted heads adapted to fit the countersink, of proper length to extend through slot, t, into slott'. H I I l The rail B; before it is secured in place, to the end frames of the gin, in accusb'er of nuts,'Z), preferably square, equal to the number of ribs to be mounted. These 'nuts are preferably slightly less in diameter and thickness than the width and depth of the slot 2 and also slightly less in diameter than the widthof the rib seat, a. This permits each rib to be independently positioned, having a slight capacity for longitudinal adjustment along the .slot without interference from the nuts, this capacity taking care of any slight inaccuracy in the width of the rib ends or the drilling of the rib bolt'holes and permitting sufficient room for any necessary adjustment of a particular rib along the rails B. In assembling therib grate fall, the first rib A is placed in position, bolts a are passed through the bolt holes a at either end of the rib and through slot, t, into slot, t, where the end of the bolt is screwed into a nut 22, and after the rib is positioned, the bolt is screwed home by means of the slotted head of the bolt. If the bolt hole at either or both ends of the rib is slightly out of center or if the rib head, a, is slightly wide, adjustment of nut 6' along the-slot 6' may be made to compensate for the inaccurac As" heretofore made, the cross rails to support the gin ribs have been of wood, the ribs being secured thereon by wood screws passing through screw holes in the seating ends of the ribs. This usage has been practically necessary so that the workman could train the ribs properly in line and spacing when ribbing up a grate fall.

Our invention is an advance when applied to wooden rails, but we especially design and prefer to employ metal rails, slotted as described.

The slotted rib accommodates variations i n the-shanks of the boltsa being e tomed way, receives within the slot 6 a num-yl the rib and holds the nuts against turning on or with the belts, in a position where a wrench could not be employed. The metal rail is desirable because it will not warp, shrink, rot or burn, and retains the ribs permanently incorrect position. It is especially useful also in gins designed for shipment to tropical countries where heat and moisture, white ants and other pests, play.

havoc with wood work.

Ve have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, but do not desire to be confined to the exact means shown, for example, a T slot, nor to the arrangement in which nuts are placed within the cross-member of the T slot, for it would be possible to employ headed bolts with the heads within the T slot and nuts applied to the free projecting ends of the bolts, although this would be an inferior embodiment of our invention.

We claim: I

1. In a cotton gin, cross rails for ginning rib support, slotted longitudinally to adjustably receive rib-securing bolt-s from the ribs, those bolts, to clamp the several ribs in adjusted position along the rails.

2. In a cotton gin, cross rails for ginning rib support having a T slot longitudinally thereof; nuts, angular in cross-section fitting closely within the T slot and non-rotatable therein; co-operating bolts projecting through the slot to engage severally the several nuts.

3. In a cotton gin, a grate-tall, comprising a pair-of cross-rails each extending from one side of the gin to the other, each crossrail having a longitudinal T slot; a multiplicity 0t ginning ribs, each having a bolt perforation at each end registering with the opening of the slot; a multiplicity of bolts severally passing through a bolt perforation into the slot; a multiplicity of nuts within the slot to severally receive the end of a bolt, substantially as described.

Signed at Manchester, England, this twenty-fourth day of December, 1926.

ISAAC LEECH. THOMAS HERBERT BRADLEY.

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